Vardanti Anugraha Bhashanam of Jagatguru Mahasannidhanam.. at Madurai..
Translation of Speech made in Tamil
translation attempted by K V Ananthanarayanan
Sharadindu vibhaasi mandahaasaam
Sphurad indeevara lochanaabhiraamaam
Aravindasamaana sundaraasyaam
Aravindaasana sundareemupaase
(शरदिन्दु विभासि मन्दहासाम्
स्फुरदिन्दीवर लोचनाभिरामाम्।
अरविन्दसमान सुन्दरास्याम्
अरविन्दासनसुन्दरीमुपासे॥)
It
was indeed with the most benevolent
hope and foresight that the
tenets of Dharma should be spread for ever far and wide all over India that the
Acharya Shankara Bhagavatpada established the Chaturaamnaaya peethas and his
solemn desire was that people
should always be blessed with an unbroken line of gurus who will effectively guide them in the
path of virtue and that by following the
path of Dharma the people with prosper from welfare and divine grace to greater
welfare and divine grace..
And among
these four peethams the Bagavatpatha established Dakshinaamnaaya Sharada Peetham at Sringeri specially for that purpose and He directed that the principles and messages
of dharma should be spread be spread all
over South India through such madam.
In
eternal obedience to the solemn orders of the Bhagavatpada the Peetathipathis of Shringeri Sharatha
peetam are ever engaged in spreading the message of Dharma all over
the South, right from the establishment of the madham
When we
talk about dharma, many people wonder aloud
that all is being spoken of is already known to most of the people for a long time and that hardly anything new or novel is
being spoken.
Yes, we
have nothing new or fresh to present before you when it comes to Dharma.. We can
only explain what is ordained in Dharma Shastams. If we say something new that is not found in
Shastras, it would be rather adharmam..
because dharmam is just what is found in
Shastras.
If we are to present before you and explain something which you have not heard till now, we would have to
deal with ideas and things which are not already available in Dharmasastras .
If we do that that would be adharmam.
Sankarabhagavatpada has not created
our order to talk about and spread adharmam.
He has employed us with the sole expectation that we should reiterate only what is already
available in Shastras.
Therefore, it is our duty to repeat again and again what is known and accepted
as dharma and you should be patient enough and willing to hear that again and
again.
I would caution you all that none
of you should take my words as mere repetition of what has already been explained and reiterated many times over
While
speaking of Dharma, the Shastras divide the duties and codes for us into two
categories.
The first set of rules, are
meant for all who are born as human beings and which are expected to be
followed by all eternally.
The
second set of rules comprise of dharma
to be followed by particular types or
classes of people according to their
stauts or avocation or function.
The first
code of conduct is called Saamaanya
Dharmam. The second one is called
Vishesha Dharmam
Vishesha Dharmam refers to the code of conduct prescribed for a particular sect or type of
people..
If one is a brahmachari, he has to follow certain unique rules.
A grahasta or Sannyasi would have to follow certain other rules..
What applies for a Brahmachari will not apply
for a Grihasta .
What applies for a Grihasta would not apply
for a Sannyasi.
Rules applicable for a Sannyasi would not
apply for a Grihasta.
These are all Vishesha Dharmas unique for each
category.
But the Samanya Dharma would apply to
all people. Such rules are binding on
Bramacharis, Grihastas, Sannyasis, Men, Women,
Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and all others.
No one can ever say Saamaanya Dharmam
is not applicable to him
Such exceptions can however be claimed for vishesha dharmas.
One who is not a Sannyasi may say about the Sannyasa Dharma ,
“ Why, that rule is not for me.
It applies only to a sannyasi.”
Grihasta
would ask “ why should Sannyasa rules apply for me?’
But no one can ever ask about
Samaanya Dharma..
” Why should it apply to me?”
Every person should follow such rules without any let up or
interruption. If someone gives up or transgresses such Saamaanya rules, grave sins will visit him, grief will be his
due, he will go to hell or narakam..
Shastras have underlined five cardinal principles as the Saamaanya Dharma.
If you ask what are these, they are,
Ahimsaa Satyam Astheyam Shaucham indriyanigraham etam saamasitam dharmam
saadhurmanvevamabraveet.
(अहिंसा सत्यं अस्तेयं
शौचं इन्द्रियनिग्रहं एतं सामासितं धर्मं साधुर्मन्वेवमब्रवीत्।)
In all moral codes, Ahimsa .. non
violence or avoiding harm to others, is given
a place of pride. In every moral code,
Ahimsa takes precedence over all other rules.
Even in our Hindu systems there are two distinct types of philosophies.
Aastika Dharma and Naastika Dharma
Aastika Dharma is the dharma which
accepts Vedas as pramanam and the primary guiding principle for conduct
of life .
Nastika Dharmam is the school of thought which
does not accept Veda as pramanam or authority.
Both these, irrespective of whether they accept Vedas as authority, accept ahimsa as a binding dharma.
On this issue there was no difference
of opinion.
Even those who followed nastika
dharshanam accept ahimsa as a guiding tenet that must be followed by all.
Not only
the Hindu sects of Astika an Nastika darshanams
accept ahimsa as dharma but other
religions too give a prime position for
non violence as an important aspect in their codes for living.
No one should harm anyone else. “Anyone else” would mean not only human
beings but would mean all living beings and things.
Ahimsa should be the approach of
every human being to any other living being and not merely to fellow human
beings.
Praani
Himsa or causing harm to other living beings is
a grievous sin
Praani Himsas Should be stopped
Even
among living being other than humans, special
care should be taken to ensure that cows are not harmed.
Cow is an
animal which deserve our utmost respect and
devout worship.
Vedas Say
GauH
dheer vidyaa maathaa rudraanaam duhitaa vasoonaam swasaa aadityaanaam amrutasya
naabhiH
(गौः धीर् विद्या माता रुद्राणां दुहिता वसूनां स्वसा आदित्यानां अमृतस्य नाभिः।)
So saying
the cow is declared by the scriptures as most sacred and subject
of great reverence.
Maathaa,
amoghaa, atithir vasishtaa..
(माता अमोघा अतिथिर्वसिष्टा)
Cow does
no harm to anyone and she blesses each and every one with benefits only.. She
should not be harmed at any cost.
(Harm to other beings occurs due to our tendency to eat flesh too.)
We talk about eating flesh.. which is
called Maamsam मांसं ..
Maamsam is defined by two words..
Maam मां meaning
me and
SaH
सः meaning He
Manusmriti says
Maam sa bhakshayitaamutra yasya
maamsam ihaatmyaham
Etan maamsasya maamsatvam pravadanti
maneeshinaH
(मां स भक्षयितामुत्र
यस्य माम्सं इहाद्म्यहम्।
एतन् माम्सस्य माम्सत्वम् प्रवदन्ति
मनीषिणः॥)
In essence,
it means “whose flesh I eat now
will eat me on a later date’.
If the meaning of this belief is understood properly, will anyone do harm to
any living beings.?
When it
is prescribed that we should not cause harm to any living beings, is it
not all the more relevant that we should
never cause any harm to the Cow?
The cow is completely harmless and she gives us so many benefits and so much of welfare..
Sashtras call her as maathaa or
mother.
When it is so , how can we harm her?
We do not call any other animal as mother.
We do not have Aja matha, Ashva maatha or gaja
maatha like Go maatha..
We call cow alone as Go maathaa.
This is because, cow is blessing us
with so much of benefits and she is just like our own mothers for us..
If someone does harm to the sacred Go
matha,, the cow, he becomes a grave sinner,
a mahaapaapi.
We
cannot allow such grave sin happening in any manner in our Sacred Land of Bharatavarsha.
This
is OUR well considered view.
The reason why I
am expostulating my view in the matter
very clearly is that people in India should form a crystal clear opinion
in this matter.
Many people may be eager to know and may be awaiting to know
the views of their Acharyaals in this matter.
I am making a declaration in very clear terms
here in this place ( Madurai) at this time (occasion the Vardhanti
celebration) as above about our approach
to cow, the Go mathaa.
The reverence for cow is self evident
because, the most important tenet of Samanya dharmas is ahimsa, is it not?
This is my saamaanya dharmam.
The next
saamanya dharmam is Truthfulness or Satyam.
If you are trying to achieve benefits by telling lies or untruths, you do not
know or you are not aware that if you tell lies a lot of sin will accrue to
you.
Satyameva
Jayate Naanrutham satyena panthaa
vitatho devayaanah
(सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम् सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः)
This was so
declared in Upanishads so many years
ago.
Lakhs of
years ago.
When
people of the current generation hear about this, they may say that such
principles are not relatable or compatible to the present day.
They may
think so.
They may think that progress in life today is
possible only through telling lies and indulging in misrepresentation.
They may
ask “ Who can come up in life these days telling truth alone? They have to tell lies if they have to
prosper.”
True, one
may reach heights of prosperity and pomp telling lies. But then they will surely fall from such
heights abruptly and steeply.
Shastras
have dealt with adharma extensively.
The one
who treads the path of adharma and the one who tells lies are on the same
footing.. Same level.
Adharmenaidhate
poorvaiH tato badraani pashyati tato
sapatnaan jayati samoolastu vinashyati..
(अधर्मेनैधते पूर्वैः ततो भद्राणि पश्यति। ततो सपत्नम् जयति समूलस्तु
विनश्यति॥)
The one
who does unrighteous things will come to the forefront very quickly.
He will be victorious over all.
He will think that no one else is
superior to him but finally he will be
destroyed and uprooted completely.
The examples for this course of
events are those of Ravana in Ramayanam and Duryodhan in
Bharatham.
Both of them became prominent by
following unrighteous means.
But
finally both were destroyed and razed
upto the roots.
Do you
need any more examples other than these
to prove this?
If one thinks that he will come up in his life telling lies, doing injustice to
others and treading unrighteous path,
Ravana and Duryodhana who faced
destruction on that count should be the witnesses for the futility of such
thoughts.
Will
anyone who have read about the fall of these two will ever think that
they can come up in life by doing adharma?
No, definitely not..
Both adharma and untruthfulness would
produce the same results.
Therefore, no one of us should follow
the path of untruthfulness in life.
We have dealt with ahmisa and satyam now.
The third
of the dharmas is Astheyam.
Stheyam
is the tendency to rob from others what is theirs..
The
action of unjustly divesting others of
their rightful possession or wealth against their wishes is a grave sin.
There is
of course nothing sinful in accepting something that someone gives you as a gift.
But if you steal something from someone else all by yourself
without the owner’s consent then you are incurring great sin..
You
should never do that.
Then comes brahmacharyam.
What is
defined by Shastras by the word
brahmacharyam is that a grihasta or a householder should discharge his dharmas
in the company of his wife whom he has married
in the manner prescribed by dharmas.
He can
perform all his grihasta functions in the company of the woman he has
married but he is prohibited even from
casting a glance on any other
woman. This is real brahmacharyam.
In our Dharma all women are considered as the manifestations of Ambaal.
vidyaassamasthaastava
devi bhedaaH striyaH samastaaH sakalaa jagatsu
(विद्याः समस्ताः तव देवि भेदाः स्त्रियः समस्ताः सकला जगत्सु)
All arts and knowledge are the manifestation of the Mother of the Universe
All women are the physical manifestations of the mother of the Universe
Therefore
when one looks at any woman, he should feel and behave only as if the is seeing
the Devi Herself in that woman, and he should never entertain and wrong,
improper or sinful thoughts about the women.
This
attitude and action is the real Brahmacharyam.
If any attitude contrary to what is said
above arises in his mind, the
person becomes the worst sinner.
Was that not this the mistake committed by Ravana?
He had Mandodari as his wife
wedded to him in the dharmic way.
He was living in all splendour and glory in her company too.
But then he abducted Sita the wife of Rama
and committed a sin which is not
pardonable.
This action led to his abysmal fall and destruction.
In fact, many well wishers advised Ravana against the wrong action.
They told him .. “You have your Mandodari as dharmapatni.. And there are many
others who are attached to you. Then why
are you going after that lady Sita?”
Ravana
scoffed at their advice and chose to
ignore them .
He told
them. “ You people better keep quiet.
This matter will be dealt with according to my own wishes.’
But what happened.? Finally he was
finished.
Therefore life following brahmacharyam is
to be followed very strictly and it is all the more so for Grihastas or
householders..
Immediately
after Ahimsa, Satyam and Astheyam comes Shaucham or cleanliness and then
Indriyanighgaham too.
Shaucham particularly means keeping the
mind free of all blemishes and ill feelings.
That is precisely called aanthara shaucham or internal purity.
Keeping the body neat, clean and trim is
baahya saucham or external cleanliness.
It is definitely not sufficient that we should keep our body clean by bath
etc.but we should keep our mind too clean.
If your mind is not clean and pure you
will not be clean even if you keep the body clean.
If the
mind is to be kept clean there should not be any feelings like Kama.. lust,
Krodha.. rage or anger etc arising and
residing there.
If the
mind is free of Kama, Krodha and such negative tendencies, then it is clean
It is stated
Dadhyaat
naavasaram kinchit kaamaadeenaam
manaagapi
(दद्यात् नावसरं किञ्चित् कामादीनाम् मनागपि)
Kaamaadeenaam manaagapi
avasaram na dadhyaat..
Kama,
Krodha etc are the evil influences which
affect the mind very badly and therefore
such influences cannot be permitted or entertained even to a very little extent.
Do not
give any opportunities for such aberrations to influence your mind.
There
should not be even traces of Kama and Krodha
in the mind.
The mind
should be kept completely unaffected by them.
Finally
we should practice Indriya Nigraham.
That
means we should keep our organs (sense organs as well as action(karma) organs) under complete control.
What is
meant by control?
We should
not desire or covet for anything and
everything that comes to our attention.
If such desire for everything around us
persists, that means we have no control
over our Indriyas.
We should
realize that we will get what God has ordained for us.
It
is meaningless to desire or covet for
more than that.
Therefore
there should be no room for greed or
avarice.
We would
definitely get what is ordained for us.
It should always be remembered that
God is there to protect us and take care
of our interests.
If we ask ourselves as to when did God start protecting us we would realize that such protection by God
was there even when we were just growing
in the wombs of our mothers.
Who else did protect us then?
What strength of our own did we have at that time?
Now we think that we are having a lot
of strength, but surely we did not have any strength when we were just growing in our mother’s
wombs.
Who was it that protected us at that stage
giving us life and growth ?
Was it not Easwara the Supreme one?
That very same God is present even now in all his glory.
Yo vai garbhagathasyaapi vrittim kalpitavaan prabhuH
Sheshavritti vidhaanepi suptaH kim
vaa mritodhavaa?
(यो वै गर्भगतस्यापि वृत्तिम् कल्पितवान् प्रभुः।
शेषवृतिविधानेऽपि सुप्तः किम्
वा मृतोथवा?)
So one should have faith that God is ever there to protect him.
One
should never covet for things that belong to anyone else.
Duryodhana faced doom
just because he was greedy for
the wealth of others. He wanted to
possess the wealth of Pandavas without any justification.
He divested them of their wealth through unfair means and finally faced
total annihilation.
Seeing that we have to realize that
avarice and greed are wrong propensities
that would ultimately lead us to our doom.
A person practicing Indriyanigraham would never fall prey to such avaricious
tendencies.
Thus Ahimsa, Satyam,Astheyam, Saucham and Indriya
Nigraham… these five qualities are to be achieved and practices by each and
every human being.
These
dharmas are to be practices by all. Be
it Brahmacharis, Grihastas, Sannyasins, Brahmins, Kshatriyas or anyone else—all
have to follow these dharmas.
If
these Saadhaarana Dharmas are not followed
by all, then what is the use of
even talking about Vishesha dharmas..
kimastyanupaneetasya
vaajapeyaadi yastibhiH
(किमस्त्यनुपनीतस्य वाजपेयादि यष्टिभिः)
If one is
not even initiated to the religious
practices through upanayanam, then what
is the meaning in his talking about Vajapaya Sacrifice? First let him have upanayanam, practice Sandhyavandanam and
then talk of Vajapeyam.
First,
let us have a full understanding of the Samaannya Dharmas and practice them. This view is nothing ne. Thousands of years ago these
have been discussed in detail in Manusmriti.
Manusmriti has a special place of pride among all the Dharmasastras.
Yat
kinchit manuravadat tad bheshajam
(यत्किञ्चित् मनुरवदत् तद् भेषजम्)
Whatever
Manu has said is oushadham.. medicine.. elixir
We
require medicine when there is any illness .
Medicine protects us and brings us relief from illness. What Manu said
is just like medicine
Yat
kinchit manuravadat tad bheshajam
Therefor
Manusmriti has a special place among
Dharmasastra texts and Manu has
expostulated the Saammannya Dharmas and has directed that everyone should
follow these eternally.
Then alone can we observe Vishesha
Dharmas effectively.
I had
pointed out even at the beginning that whatever I tell here are all already
known and discussed many a time.
Yes,
these are all known to everyone. But such
knowledge does not manifest in
our day to day aachaarams or practices. We have read many books, listened to
many discourses but when it comes to putting the principles into practice nothing comes to our memory. We continue to do wrong things.
Then
what purpose is going to be served by
reading so many books and listening to so many upanyasams?
The Administrator was discussing about our Yathras.
I asked
him, “Maybe, we will hold discourses on
dharma but how many people do really listen and how many out of those listen
practice what is imparted to them? Can
you give me the figures if you have them? “
He was baffled.
Therefore,
even though you may think that I am repeating again and again only what is
known to all, I am keeping on repeating the same thing just to remind you all that you
should not forget what I say, you should practice what I have
been telling you repeatedly.
Saamanya Dharmas should be scrupulously
applied in our day to day activities.
I am
therefore repeating the same thing again and again.
You
should not deviated from the path of Dharma at any time. By following the path
of Dharma all should attain Divine Grace,
and welfare. This has been the
wish and advice of all our predecessors.
We are giving the same message to all of you.
In this city of Madurai, this year, this celebration has been conducted in an
elaborate and exemplary manner and the
Satachandi Yajnam and Easvara Aradhanam
were conducted in a solemn manner .. May the bhagavan be pleased and
bless this Madurai and all of you and the entire south, with prosperity and welfare and especially with
lot of rains.
May all live with Divine Grace, prosperity and plentitude .. I am making repeated prayers in the Sannidhi
of Bhagavan. May God bless us with
plenty of rains.
The
Upanyasam concludes with Aasheervadams and Hara Hara Mahadeva..
